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I thought this was much better than last week's episode. Like it's been said, this was a great character-driven episode that gave a lot of character development to May and showed off why these four characters have the best chemistry of any of the various group formations throughout the series. Everybody had a role in this episode, unlike earlier days were Brock and Misty would just stand around doing nothing.

There were some great comedy spots (Torchic, Ash being stupid, Butch and Cassidy bowing to Giovanni's feet in the Fantasy of the Day, etc.), nice touches of drama with May staying up at night and the ending sequence. If I didn't read spoilers I would have figured that May would catch Swablu in this episode and I was really surprised when the show faked us out. Even the music was pretty good.

I was kind of thrown off by the characters pronouncing Swablu as "Swa-BLUE," especially when Ash said it in the episode's title, but I guess the emphasis could go toward either syllable of the name... very typical birdie-Pokemon voice, but it was still cute.

This is one of the best filler episodes I have ever seen. Comedy (mainly coming from Ash being his dense self again but with Max and his line about May having a crush on someone from school) but plenty of character development with May. It's really amazing seeing as how in the beginning of Hoenn, she could care less about getting a pokemon. And amazingly, Brock wasn't cast off to the side, was semi-important (helping May taking care of Swablu), and acted mature (most likely because there were no girls he could flirt with. The writers need to do this more often!). This episode deserves a 10/10.

Yeah, and the music they did have at that point in the dub was pretty boring. I didn't really expect them to keep Ready Go! though since they took it out of the last contest episode.=/ Probably objected to the Japanese lyrics.

I'm sorry to say this, but I didn't like the way Max was blubbering at the end. They may have well just added some snot running out of his nose. In fact, I don't think anyone has snotted on Pokemon yet.

Give him a break, he's only eight.:P Smaller children are generally more emotional.

It could have even been related to him remembering how he had to let Jirachi go. Either way, it's a realistic portrayal to show Max as having less control over his emotions than the older kids. Despite his intelligence he isn't as mature. He'll demonstrate this quality several more times in the future I hear.

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Otherwise my thoughts are the same as most here. I loved that Taillow and Beautifly got in on the action, and Swablu was truly adorable. And I haven't seen Ash this goofy funny in a long time. At the same time he showed his growing maturity and wisdom, by remarking how any great breeder has to make good-tasting medicine. Usually it would be Brock to say something like that. Pikachu also had more personality in this episode than it has for a while.

But what I want to know is what Max was about to say May did. Did the nature of his final garbled sylables give any hint to it? It went something like this:

Max: "Once my sister puts her mind to something there's no stopping her. Once she had a crush on this boy and she act- *hand clamped on mouth*
May: "I was such a child back then!" *laughs nervously*

The dialogue was really quite good on all sides in this episode, especially Ash and Pikachu's scenes during the flight training and "magic powder." The ranger's last remark was rather deep:

Ranger: "Now that's what I call conflicted." *as he watches TR blast off after they yelled something that seemed to conflict with a previous belief statement*

This episode was okay. We've seen the "Try to teach a Pokemon to do something through strange methods" thing like two hundred fifty-five times now... So it was pretty boring most of the episode.

But,I loved the ending... I thought May was about to keep Swablu... Even though we've also seen the "Saying good-bye to a friend that flies off into the sunset" routine two hundred fifty-five times, I still find myself finding off a tear. Also, the music when May was caring for Swablu was pretty. It was funny when Max brought up May's past crush. Not the best episode ever, but far from bad.

The fantasy of the day was one of the only ones that actually made me laugh. (The part with Butch and Cassidy groveling at Giovonni's feet, and the part where he was leading a bunch of Rockets.) Swablu was cute!

Yeah, and the music they did have at that point in the dub was pretty boring. I didn't really expect them to keep Ready Go! though since they took it out of the last contest episode.=/ Probably objected to the Japanese lyrics.

Ah, I look forward to next weeks objective music input. No, I do. Seriously. Really!

They dug through the recycle for this one. Every cliche was used. At least we get to see some growth in May. However, I do believe that Swablu would have gone with her. Seriously unlikely but it would be interesting for them to meat again in the future (like Ash did withy Lapras).

Wow, I made a post about May without insulting her.

Some people don't think it's funny that Exit 69 gets off on Big Beaver.

The fantasy of the day was one of the only ones that actually made me laugh. (The part with Butch and Cassidy groveling at Giovonni's feet, and the part where he was leading a bunch of Rockets.) Swablu was cute!

Yeah, that made me laugh! Oh, I liked the part where Max mentioned that May had a crush on a boy at school.

Because he does. -_- He's taken the time to get to know all/most of the Japanese Pokemon and Pokemon Human Character names and also feels more comfortable using them.

There's a thread in the Pokemon Anime forum called 'English/Japanese Reference Thread' with a list of all Pokemon's Japanese names. Feel free to take a look if you find your poor little head exploding with all the geeky and weird Japanese name usage. That's all you really can do, because several people have already moaned their heads off to Ed, with no results. Yay! I might start using the Japanese names myself.

About Half and Half. I don't like the fact that you look at what they don't have rather than what they use, but a little ball of curiousity in the back of mind my can't help but wonder what was different each new episode, and that's what I need you for.

Of course, comments...

Originally Posted by Edward Elric

No Ready Go!? Wow. That totally kills the mood of trying to teach Chiruto how to fly. :\

This wasn't so bad of an episode either. I really wish May kept that Swablu since it would of been so great for her. Is it me or is much like Bye Bye Butterfree? I mean, May helps Swablu fly, Ash helps Butterfree find a Mate. Swablu learns to fly and goes back with it's flock, Butterfree finds a mate and leaves to go breed. They both cry in the end to while they let them go.

Sorry, but it's actually the truth. The song was meant to give the viewers a sense of cheerfulness and hope for Chiruto to fly. Considering the message that Ready Go! has, it makes it more enjoyable. I'll rip a clip of that and stick it into my topic just for reference. :P